Instructions:
Boil the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Cool. Add cucumbers, garlic, and dill in a plastic or glass bowl (not metal!). Cover with the cooled liquid. Put in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. The pickles should be good for 6 weeks. Enjoy!

By lmiller1989

By billy sellers

we canned several cases of dill pickles last year made a brine of water vinagar pickling salt let come to a boil,put dill weed,garlic,and pepper in jars let brine come to a boil and poured over cukes in jar and sealed when we got ready to eat them they was soft and mushey had to throw away dont know what we done wrong but a lot of work down the drain can you tell me what made them soft instead of crispy thank you any advice would be nice ,we are going to try again this year

By dawn thompson

By A.L. CLYBURN

Mr. Sellers you need to use a product called PICKLING LIME if you want to can your pickles. I started using it back when I was 12 years old so it's easy to do.
Once your pickle slices have done their time in the lime water, you should be able to make them up with whatever flavoring you want.
I hope this helps you.
:)

Here are some tips for crisp pickles:
It is very important to use fresh, just-picked vegetables. Overripe cucumbers make mushy pickles.
You will need to cut the ends off as the blossoms cause softness.
For crisp pickles, they must be processed in water temperature that remains above 180° during the entire processing time but also below 185° or the pectin breaks down (which softens the pickle).

Yes, you can use cider vinegar or another vinegar. Just make sure that whatever kind you use is at least 5% acidity. Note that it may change the color of the pickles.
Also, if you need to peel the cucumbers, that is fine.

By marsha598

By Benita

2 questions... #1) what is a head of dill? 2) What kind of cucumbers?( I see recipes that say pickling cucumbers and some just cucumbers) Does it matter which? If so, what do I look for when purchasing my cucumbers plants. Thanks... New to this and want to do it correctly.

A head of dill is the flower gone to seed, so instead of just the foliage you will also see flowers. If you can't find dill in this form, it is ok to use just the foliage.
It is better to use pickling cucumbers because the skin is thinner than regular salad cucumbers. The most important part is to use fresh, crisp cucumbers.

By La June Moreland

Any supermarket that carries pickling supplies/jars should carry canning (or pickling) salt. It may be seasonal. You could also substitute with kosher salt. (Kosher salt is not as dense as pickling salt so you'll need to use more.)